Hope everyone in NatsTown is enjoying the holiday weekend. No, not Independence Day. Strasmas. This is no ordinary, once-a-year holiday. This one comes every five days, and rarely does it disappoint.

OK, so the Nationals have lost Stephen Strasburg's last three starts. It wasn't the pitcher's fault. Over the long haul, he's going to win many more games than he loses. Perhaps both the rookie and his team will get back on the winning track today against the Mets.

This would be a nice time to do it, since this start is being televised to most of the country on Fox. They'll be doing the pregame show live from Nationals Park, then Joe Buck, Kevin Millar and Ken Rosenthal will have the call at 4:10 p.m. Expect plenty of debate about Strasburg's All-Star merits (seeing as how rosters will be announced tomorrow and Fox is televising the midsummer classic in 10 days).

Only thing out-of-the-ordinary about Jim Riggleman's lineup today: Cristian Guzman is on the bench, with Adam Kennedy at second base. That bumps Roger Bernadina up to the 2-hole. Hopefully he doesn't get picked off at a crucial moment in this game.

When is Eckstein going to get fired. His hitters are awful and the last 40 games they are pathetic. When Strasburg pitches they even get worse. He deserves better effort by them, We are not always playing Cy Young, though our hitters make may pitchers look that good.

These hitter are bad. They are worse when Strasburg pitches. When is someone going to do so something about the lack of hitting. Seems none on the coaches staff is doing anything. Time for Rizzo to get rid of the dead weight.

Just my thought: Strasburg should have been allowed to pitch the 6th. After the incredibly wild first inning, he pitched very well through the next 4.The kid clearly wants to battle and help the team win, so why not give him an extra inning every now and then? Show him you trust him Riggs! An extra 12 pitches aren't going to destroy his arm. Rant over haha

@ManassasO think keeping Strasburg to 100 or less pitches will do him well through out the season. He needs to keep it to 14 pitches or less an inning to go 7, Some late magic. Clippard 3 of his last 4 appearances have been 2009 like.

Did anyone else roll their eyes during the Fox interview of Niese? He has to be the dumbest baseball player I've ever seen. Really annoying to miss almost half an inning of baseball while they interviewed him. Really bad job by Fox.

It was funny when Buck talked about his W-L record and asked the kid how he felt. He proceeded to talk about how he was a little sore, but that was typical the day after a game, and he'd work through it. Buck's like, uhhh, yeah. That's very interesting, but I was more wondering about your feelings… I'd kinda like to know what was said to him about the hammy injury as well. Or maybe not. 😀

Umpires need to study the wall structures of the parks they are officiating in—should be part of their job description. AD's ball hit the metal piping behind the foam wall, which makes it a HR. Balls don't bounce that hard off the top of foam–unless you're an umpire!

Srsly?? He's got people who can't even spell his name–and some who can't spell their own names–telling him he's a year away from the Hall of Fame. Underconfidence is the last thing I'd worry about there. ******************Cwj said…Sec- I was thinking it might help him confidence wise. Storen was great, but I fear the leash on Strasburg is a bit tight.

Doc, they also study the ground rules. I haven't, myself, so I'm guessing here, but I would figure the pipe is part of the wall, therefore in play. The ground rules may not even articulate such a longshot event, but in other parks with (unpadded) fences, the ball off the top is in play.

Mark, can you provide any insight regarding why the Nats haven't signed Adam Dunn to an extension as yet? What's the hang up? Is it Kasten, Rizzo, Lerners? To me and perhaps other fans who put thousands of $$$ into the Nats each year, the delay makes no sense. It can't be that they're waiting to see what's offered this July because Adam Dunn is better than anything they could get. They offered Teixeira $180M and compare Adam Dunn's stats this year with Teixeira's!

Richard: I believe the issue is a difference of opinions on worth. Dunn believes he should get a certain number of years and a certain number of dollars, perhaps using Ryan Howard's five-year, $125 contract as a guideline. The Nats aren't willing to commit as many years or dollars as Dunn wants to a player who puts up big numbers but also has some limitations, especially in the field. At some point, the two sides will have to settle on some middle ground. And I believe they will. Dunn wants to stay in D.C. The Nats want to keep him. They'll figure it out, though maybe not until the offseason.